


The Calm Before the Storm

by Inkandquills



Category: A.C.E (Beat Interactive Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Angst, Child!Chan, F/M, Gen, Magic, Manipulation, Prince!Donghun, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-05 10:07:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13385562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inkandquills/pseuds/Inkandquills
Summary: Warlocks used to prosper alongside people until a greedy King tried to abuse the warlocks power for his own gain.  He single handedly destroyed the relationship between the royal family and the warlocks.  Generations of subsequent Kings have been on a quest to eradicate the warlocks and suddenly it comes down to two kids to save their entire race.  Abandoned by their father who is the only one who can teach them how to utilize their powers, they are the last hope to stop the King’s murderous rampage.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I created this story completely original but decided to adapt it into an A.C.E. story. Hope you enjoy it!

She sat on the river bank, one hand slowly moving back and forth through the cool water, letting it flow through her fingertips. A light breeze blew through the alcove she so often found herself in. Birds chirped and branches cracked as several animals scurried around, while the breeze rustled the tops of the tall trees and ruffled her long, brown hair. She did not notice the soft footsteps that approached and was jostled from her thoughts when a shout made her jump.

“Jewel!” She jumped to her feet and spun around to see who the voice that dared to bother her belonged to, only to come face to face with her brother.

“Sehyoon, how the hell did you find me?” she said her voiced mixed with anger and disappointment at the loss of her private alcove to none other than her brother.

“What, you think you’re the only one who knows about this place?” Sehyoon replied with a smirk when he saw Jewel’s face mold from shock and confusion to anger and frustration, “What are you doing here?”

Jewel turned back around and sat back down trying to hide the sadness that spread across her face. She was exceptional at holding her tongue and her voice never betrayed her, easily winning her title of best liar in the entire village; however, her emotions were always painted clear as day on her face, especially in her eyes. Sehyoon’s smirk quickly disappeared as he walked over to Jewel and sat down next to her.

“I can’t believe it’s been ten years…” she barely whispered, not making eye contact with her brother.

“Ah!” he scoffed, “Come on Jewel, you know he did it to protect us.”

“Protect us!?” she felt her anger returning quickly, replacing the momentary sadness, “Yeah, because hiding in the North Mountains and completely abandoning us, out of nowhere, all without teaching you a single thing, is protecting us!” She turned to face her brother, and while her voice remained even, her face displayed all of the pent up anger she felt.

Sehyoon sighed and calmly replied, “He didn’t teach me anything because that would have brought more harm than good if the King’s soldiers came looking for us. He left suddenly because he had no choice, and delaying any longer would have put all of us in more danger than we were already in. He left so the soldiers would follow him rather than finding all of us. Also, he has to protect himself too, so hiding is really his only option. You know how the King is, he will stop at nothing until Father is dead, and me if he ever finds us.”

Jewel froze. The thought of losing her brother was unbearable, while she loved her two younger siblings, she had an extremely close relationship with Sehyoon. She was practically Sehyoon’s shadow while growing up, following him absolutely everywhere he went.

“I’m a warlock, Jewel, not a miracle worker. I can’t make him come back, but trust me, I will protect you, mother, Eunsuh, and Chan no matter the cost. I know how upset you are by this, but there is nothing you can do to change it.” Sehyoon stood up, grabbing a hold of Jewel’s hands and pulling her up with him. Her face remained sullen as he pulled her into his arms. He held his sister in his arms as she slowly wrapped her arms around him and sighed. Suddenly, several screams, seemingly from far away, rang through the air. Sehyoon and Jewel jumped apart and exchanged a look of fear as they realized the screams were coming from their village, and immediately took off running. They sprinted back to their village silently, easily reaching it within a few minutes, only to find several of the King’s knights on horses storming around the village shouting, and swinging their swords. Sehyoon placed his arm on Jewel’s to stop her and silently pointed towards the trees that bordered the perimeter of the village.

“We need to get to the house, but stay out of sight. If they see us we’re done.” Sehyoon whispered to Jewel, while pulling her towards the trees. The two of them snuck around the perimeter of the village, remaining out of sight, and entered their house through the back door. Inside, their mother stood at the front door, keeping an eye on the events occurring outside. Their friend Junhee was sitting on the floor holding a visibly upset Eunsuh in his lap. All three people looked up with fear when the door opened, but upon realized it was Jewel and Sehyoon, Eunsuh leapt to her feet and ran up to Sehyoon, latching herself onto his leg. Junhee stood up and swiftly walked over to Jewel, hugged her tightly, and placed a kiss on her forehead.

“I was so scared they caught you.” Junhee whispered as he nuzzled his head into her hair. He turned his head to place a kiss on her lips, but she pulled away when she realized what Eunsuh was saying.

“Chan didn’t come back. I think someone took him.” She gasped through the tears that were streaming down her face.

“Where did you see him last?” Sehyoon asked.

Their mother, without turning from the door replied, “He was at the green, but he didn’t run back with the other children.”

“I’m going to get him.” Jewel said as she turned to walk back out the door. Junhee grabbed onto her arm, stopping her in her tracks, and dragged her into the adjacent room, shutting the door behind them.

“Are you crazy? It’s much too dangerous.” Junhee practically whined the words, but they didn’t phase Jewel.

She quickly ripped her arm from Junhee’s grasp, “I’m not concerned about the danger, when my brother could be dead because of those men. I am going to get him and you are not going to stop me.” She practically growled the words causing Junhee to take a reluctant step back.

“Fine, but if you go I’m coming with you.” Junhee stated rather indignantly.

“Jun, don’t do this.” The pet name softened Junhee and he slumped his shoulders, but he quickly straightened back up in hopes of convincing Jewel to allow him to go with her. He knew it was fruitless to try to convince her not to go. Jewel was incredibly stubborn, and once her mind was set on something, she was getting it.

“Why not? I know how much your brother means to you and I want him back as much as you do, but it’s too dangerous for you to go alone. It's my job to protect you.” Junhee said this while taking a step toward Jewel and taking her hands in his and interlacing their fingers.

“I can protect myself.” Jewel whispered as she looked up at Junhee. “Plus they need you here, Eunsuh would be distraught if anything happened to you. Let me go and I promise I’ll be back with Chan before you can even miss me. Please, Jun.”

He didn’t answer and instead, cupped her face in his hands, leaned down, and connected their lips. Jewel didn’t hesitate to kiss him back, tilting her head upward to gain a better angle. Their lips worked in perfect sync and they only broke apart to catch their breath.

“I love you.” Junhee whispered as he buried his face in Jewel’s neck reluctant to let her go. He finally pulled back and looked down at Jewel. “I miss you already.”

Jewel stared up into Junhee’s brown eyes and whispered the words she had been waiting to say for ages, “ I love you too, Jun.”

He grinned and captured her lips once more with his, “Come back quickly.”

Jewel nodded and they left turned to leave and rejoin her family in the main room.

“Jewel.” Sehyoon cautioned when he saw the look in her eye as she exited the room. Her eyes shot daggers in his direction, and he knew there would be no convincing her to stay.

“Just be careful.” She nodded, and allowed Junhee to place one last quick kiss on her lips.

“Be careful, please.” He whispered as she turned away and exited the door. She walked quickly, but inconspicuously towards the green. As she got close she saw no trace of her brother, except for one slightly bent branch of the ferns that surrounded the lake next to the green. She began walking over to the ferns, looked around to make sure no soldiers were watching, and stepped through, careful not to bend anymore of the plants. Once she entered the clearing, she saw a small foot poking out from under a bush.

“Chan, its Jewel. You can come out from under there it’s just me,” she whispered loud enough for only her brother to hear. Yuchan poked his head out and ran to his sister. She knelt down and cradled her brother in her arms.

“That was so smart of you to hide here, Chan, but we have to get you home.” Jewel stood up and took her brother by the hand. He looked up at her and nodded.

They stepped back through the ferns, and turned towards their home. They only managed to take a couple steps when two voices stopped them in their tracks.

“Hey look what we have here.” Jewel turned around to see two soldiers stalking over to her with smirks plastered across both of their faces. She stepped in front of Yuchan to shield him from the men. The first soldier stalked over and took Jewel’s wrist in his hand and yanked her towards him. She quickly pulled her arm from his grasp and glared fiercely at the man who dared to grab her.

“Oh she’s a feisty one huh? Where are you going, girl? More importantly, where are you coming from?” Jewel ignored all the soldier’s questions, and only addressed her brother.

“Chan, go home. I’ll be there soon.” Yuchan quickly ran off, and the second soldier moved to follow him, but Jewel stepped in front of him.

“Out of my way, girl!” He spat, while shoving her to the side. “Do you dare to impede the work of the King’s soldiers?” Jewel did not reply or move, only maintained the same venomous stare she had for the first soldier. After getting a closer look at Jewel’s face, the first soldier’s angry snarl morphed back into his original smirk.

“I think we found what we’re looking for.” He smiled precariously close to Jewel’s face, but she refused to take a step back. Her eyes widened ever so slightly in fear and confusion, but she quickly returned her stare before the soldier noticed.

“There’s so many girls in this village, how can you be sure she’s the warlock’s daughter?” the second soldier replied, while taking a step closer to inspect Jewel’s face. Jewel could no longer hide the fear that seeped across her face, but she remained quiet.

“Her eyes,” the first soldier smirked. Jewel quickly looked down finally breaking eye contact with the first soldier.

“You’re wrong,” her voice was icy and held no trace of the fear that was so evident on her face.

“Ha! We’ll see what the King has to say about that,” the first soldier said as he grabbed her arm. Jewel immediately struck the soldier and turned to run when he let go, but was too slow as the second soldier has already grabbed her. She kicked him causing his grip to loosen, but not enough for her to slip away. The first soldier walked over and roughly grabbed her face.

“Gotcha,” he whispered in a condescending tone. Jewel spit in his face, while continuing to struggle to break free of the second soldier’s grasp. The first soldier wiped his face with the back of his hand, and then took the hilt of his sword and struck her in the temple causing her to crumble to the ground. The second soldier picked her up and carried her to the first soldier’s horse.

“We have what we need, we’re done here,” the first soldier said. “Alert the men to cease searching and to head out immediately.” The second soldier mounted his horse and rode off as the first soldier walked to his horse and mounted behind Jewel.


	2. Chapter 2

Yuchan ran as fast as his short legs could carry him, not slowing down until he entered the house. He ran straight into his mother’s arms, who had finally left the window when she saw Yuchan enter the house.

“Oh, Chan, you’re okay!” she hugged him tightly until Junhee’s voice caused her to rush back to the window.

“Where’s Jewel?” Junhee looked panickedly at Yuchan, and then rushed to the window next to Ira. Yuchan looked at the floor before bursting into tears, “She’s with two soldiers, she told me to come here so I ran. I don’t know where she is now.” Sehyoon walked over to his brother, knelt down and enveloped him in his arms.

Junhee turned to walk out the door, but Ira grabbed his arm.

“Why are the soldiers leaving?” she asked, her voice shaky.

“They either found what they were looking for, or didn’t,” Sehyoon responded. “Jewel should be here soon then.” Several minutes turned into an hour and Jewel still had not turned up, despite the soldiers being gone nearly the whole time. Junhee paced up and down the length of the house until finally he could wait no longer.

“The soldiers are completely gone. I’m going to look for her.”

“I’m coming with you.” Sehyoon responded quietly not knowing what to expect. The two left the house and searched the village tirelessly for several hours, even stopping to talk to everyone they saw. However, they came up empty handed, finding no trace of Jewel anywhere. Finally, Junhee realized what happened.

“They took her.” He said stopping in his tracks.

“That’s impossible. Why would they take her?” Sehyoon stopped and turned to face Junhee.

“They must have known! There is no way they came here on a lucky whim! The King knows you are all here and he sent the soldiers to find you and they got your sister instead!”

“Then I’ll go to the castle and bring her back.”

“No! That’s exactly what the King wants. If he can’t catch you himself, he’ll lure you there.” Sehyoon wanted to argue, but he knew Junhee was right. He sat down and put his head in his hands.

“What do we do?” he asked in a defeated tone.

Junhee sat down across from him and replied, “I don’t know, but I should have gone with her.”

Sehyoon opened his mouth to respond, but when he saw the tears in the corners of Junhee’s eyes he decided to stay silent. The two men sat in the grass thinking of plans to rescue Jewel, but none were plausible. Once the sun went down they went back to the house. Eunsuh and Yuchan were upstairs, but Ira sat awake at the kitchen table. She looked up when the men walked in, but tears rolled down her cheeks when they wordlessly shook their heads. Sehyoon walked to his mother and pulled her into a hug, letting her cry into his shoulder. He nodded at Junhee and mouthed a “thank you.” Junhee nodded back and walked out the door back to his house. He walked like a zombie, not realizing he was home until his knees collided with the side of his bed. Not bothering to change, Junhee climbed into bed and laid there, wondering what would have happened if he had went out with Jewel. He didn’t realize he was crying until a tear fell onto his hand, but he brushed it away, vowing to get his love back no matter the cost.

Sehyoon calmed his mother down, brought her to bed, and finally went to lie down is his own bed. He stared at the ceiling, the events of the day repeatedly running over and over again in his head. He tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep no matter how long he kept his eyes close. He laid on his back and let out a sigh as a tear slid down his cheek. He wiped it off, but it was fruitless as more quickly followed the first. He laid in bed and sobbed silently, as he realized he was not able to uphold his promise he made to Jewel earlier that morning. He finally exhausted himself enough to fall asleep, although it was not very restful.


	3. Chapter 3

Jewel awoke with a pounding headache, which worsened when she sat up quickly in shock. Her hands were tied behind her back and she was alone in a tent. She tried to get up, but was unable to. A figure outside of the tent noticed the movement within and entered. Jewel’s face twisted into a snarl as she came face to face with the soldier whose face she had spit in.

“Look who finally decided to wake up,” the soldier looked down at Jewel as a twisted grin spread across his face.

“Where am I? How long have I been sleeping? Where are you taking me?” Jewel asked as she tried to slip her wrists through the rope that bound them together, but it was tied too tight.

“Hm, you aren’t as bright as I was lead to believe,” the soldier replied with a nasty tone, but ignored Jewel’s questions as he stepped behind her and hauled her to her feet by her bound wrists.

“Ow!” Jewel cried in pain as her shoulders were nearly pulled from their sockets. “That didn’t answer my questions,” she growled in annoyance, but the soldier only responded by shoving her out of the tent. She blinked and groaned as her eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight, her headache only continuing to worsen. When she was finally able to see, she looked around to see a campsite with a few tents and about ten soldiers milling around, packing up and loading their horses. She turned to her left and gasped when she finally realized their ultimate destination. The castle loomed above them despite still being miles away. It looked just as uninviting and menacing as she had always heard. The dark, rough stone exterior perfectly reflected the evil that resided inside.

The soldier chuckled at her gasp and dragged her through the camp towards the horses tied up along the perimeter. Jewel struggled to wiggle free, to no avail, and walked of her own accord the rest of the way.

“See how much easier it is when you cooperate?” the soldier asked as he lifted Jewel onto the horse. He mounted behind her and yelled to a group of five soldiers standing next to their horses, “Mount up! We move out in two minutes!”

The rest of the soldiers continued to pack up the tents, while the five mounted their horses and formed a circle around the horse Jewel was on. Her head was running a mile a minute, which did not help her headache. She wondered if Yuchan made it home, she wondered how her mother and younger siblings were handling her kidnapping, she wondered if Junhee would be brash enough to come after her, but then her thoughts landed on Sehyoon. She missed her brother immensely, and would do almost anything to be back home with him. Looking around frantically, several plans of escape ran through her head, but none were feasible with the wall of soldiers surrounding her. A tear fell from her face onto the horse’s neck and she quickly hung her head so none of the soldiers noticed her crying. She tried to push her brother out of her mind so she would stop crying, but it was to no avail. She was jostled out of her thoughts by the soldier sliding his hand around her waist and whispering into her ear, “I would hate to see you leave after all this time.” She could practically hear the smirk on his face, and had no retort as he had practically read her mind about attempting to escape. He barked orders to his subordinates and the horse lurched forward towards the castle. Jewel hung her head in defeat and thought of her brother and her family to try and forgot the soldier seated behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

Sehyoon awoke suddenly and shot up in bed, breathing heavily. A fresh round of tears began to fall down his cheeks when he remembered what happened the day before. He rested his elbows on his knees and sobbed uncontrollably into his hands until he heard his door creak open. Sehyoon picked his head up and blinked his bloodshot eyes to clear the tears only to see Yuchan standing in his doorway.

“Sehyoon, are you ok?” Yuchan asked timidly. He had never seen his brother upset before, let alone cry.

“Get out,” Sehyoon said barely above a whisper. When Yuchan just stared at him he shouted much louder, “GET OUT!” His voice cracking as he began to sob again.

Yuchan’s eyes widened at his brother’s outburst and he sprinted from the room, leaving the door ajar in his haste, and promptly retreated downstairs to find his mother. Sehyoon stood up, wiping his eyes on his sleeves so he could see where he was going, and stalked to the door. He slammed the door closed, locked it, and resumed his previous position on his bed, sobbing until there were no more tears to cry. The previous day replayed itself over and over again relentlessly in his mind. I can’t make him come back, but trust me, I will protect you, mother, Eunsuh, and Chan no matter the cost. He began to cry again, even harder than before, when he remembered the promise he made to his sister that he didn’t keep. He ran through each and every plan Junhee and he created, desperately grasping at any straws to find a way to get his sister back, but to his dismay he couldn’t. The thing that tore Sehyoon up the most was that this happened because of him. The soldiers had invaded the village looking for him, and instead of facing them and protecting his family, he hid. He hated himself for this and didn’t realize the sun had set hours ago until there was a knock on his door. Sehyoon was ripped from his thoughts and looked up at the door. His eyes stung from constantly being wiped dry for the past several hours, and his body was sore from sitting in the same position for so long. He dragged himself from his bed and opened the door only to come face to face with his mother. He couldn’t bear to look her in the eye, and instead hung his head as another tear rolled silently down his face. Ira wordlessly took her son by the shoulders and guided him back to his bed so he could sit down. She sat next to Sehyoon and pulled his head into her shoulder. Sehyoon opened his mouth to apologize to his mother, but couldn’t make a sound due to the lack of use of his voice for so long, instead his voice cracked into a hoarse whisper.

He cleared his throat and tried again, “I’m sorry,” his voice cracked again, but this time it was because a fresh round of tears had found their way to his eyes, and the all too familiar ball formed in his throat, choking him. Ira said nothing for a moment, but her heart broke for her son, whom she had never seen this devastated before.

“Sehyoon, you have nothing to apologize for, this isn’t your-” but she was cut off when Sehyoon stood up and finally met his mother’s gaze with fire in his eyes. She froze, staring at her son from her seat, while he towered above her, his voice raising with each word he said.

“Stop! I don’t want to hear your lies because they aren’t going to fix anything. This is my fault because those soldiers came for me, but took Jewel instead! They’re using her for bait, and I need to go get her.” He breathed heavily, his hands clenched into fists, but he relaxed when he was how scared his mother was. He sat down on the edge of the bed, rested his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands.

Ira rubbed her son’s shoulders for a minute before responding, “Sehyoon, it’s not safe for you to go to the castle on your own. If they are using Jewel for bait, it’s going to be exceedingly difficult for you to escape with her. It’s bad enough that I lost one of my children, I can’t stand to lose you too.”

Sehyoon just sat there, finally thinking of how everyone else was feeling about Jewel’s capture. He hasn’t seen Eunsuh since he left to first look for Jewel, and he only saw Yuchan briefly when he came to check on Sehyoon earlier. He looked up at his mother and noticed her eyes were bloodshot, presumably from crying, and there were dark circles under eyes, from lack of sleep. Finally, Sehyoon thought about Junhee; the poor boy must be almost as torn up as Sehyoon that he couldn’t protect Jewel.

He sighed, “What do I do?” He asked, the hopelessness thick in his voice. He was prepared for the worst, but hearing his mother say it aloud caused his heart to sink to the floor, where it sat too heavy to be picked up again.  
“Nothing. There’s nothing we can do to get her back.”


End file.
